Category Archives: Zero Cred

The KTM 690 Enduro R and the BMW G650GS are the two DS candidates in this Election Cycle, but of course only one can represent the Dual-Sport Party in the final election.

I should point out that the criteria are purposely subjective for me, Backpacker Moto, and how I view my upcoming purchase. If I’m being objective, the KTM is statistically the superior machine in just about every way. But for me it’s not all about the numbers or spec sheets. I shall also point out that since my original summaries of these bikes, I have test ridden both of them again.

I picked the Labour Party for the Triumph only because of the British connection, so there’s no hyper-strained political analogy this time. Doesn’t matter, because the Bonneville is in this election for just one reason.

APPEARANCE

On the day I went to Bert’s Mega Mall (actual name) to check out the FZ-09, there was a Triumph Thruxton blocking my path through the showroom floor. I was immediately and inescapably smitten by the pure, beautiful expressions of motorcycling that are the Triumph Classics.

The KTM 690 Enduro. Ah, the independent candidate. Weary of the establishment and the moronic tendencies of the two party system, the independent scorns convention and shows open contempt for partisan ways. He’s the longshot who often has superior credentials, but circumstances (or media assassins hired by the Big Two) usually dictate a cruel yet inevitable demise.